The excellent service they provide for the health and safety of their customers has lead to soaring business growth, particularly in recent years where their fair-sized company has maintained a highly efficient service with a personal touch.

 

With such exponential business potential, it was only natural for Fresh Water Filters to look towards researching the efficiency of their manufacturing processes and the very possibility of expansion, where a proposed second factory site in India was to be considered. It was here that Simlab’s expertise was required and where simul8 – Simlab’s statistical-graphical simulation modelling environment methodology – was deployed with great success.

 

“We were offered a scheme where they gave us funding to do one study on the efficiency of the factory, so we wanted some good solid results from which we could make informed decisions,” says Dwight Wood, director of Fresh Water Filters.

 

Simlab’s task was developing a simulation model of Fresh Water Filters’ manufacturing process, using accurate manufacturing data and system logic: from shift cycles to casting moulds, from kiln sizes to the number of personnel.

 

Not a task to be taken lightly, extensive validation of the model was carried out by comparing its output to the output of the “real-life” manufacturing system, alongside detailed consultation with employees, so that a good understanding of the system’s dynamics and behaviour could be acquired.

 

“Simlab were very good. The project made us think very greatly about our processes and where hold-ups in production could be, and where investment would go to get the most out of our system.”

 

The successful simulation model gave a detailed evaluation of the company’s process and practice, supplying prospective figures such as how much of human and material resources were required for producing a specified monthly product volume. This ultimately enabled Fresh Water Filters to consider the capacity of the second proposed site in a highly knowledgeable manner.

 

“We were very pleased with the results, the project was brilliant,” praises Dwight, safe in the knowledge that with Simlab’s consulting, he knows his company inside out; from the inner workings of the factory to the lucrative international prospects that await.